Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1887-12-22
QUEER ANTTPATHIES.
Peter the Great and His Dread of Water
Lamballe's Horror of Yiolets.

Lamballe's Horror of Violets.
1t seems absolutely incredible thai
Peter the Great, the father of the Rus
sian navy, should shudder at the sight
OF water, whether running or still, vet
so it was, especially when alone. His
palace gardens, beautiful as they were,
he never entered, because the river
Mosera flowed through them. His
coachman had orders to avoid all roads
which led past streams, and if com
PEELED to cross brook or bridge, the
great emperor would sit with closed
windows, in a cold perspiration. An
other monarch, James l., the English
Solomon, as he. liked to be called, had
many antipathies, chiefly tobacco, ling,
and pork. He never overcame his in
ability to look with composure at a
drawn sword; and it is said that on one
occasion, when giving the accolade,
the king turned his face aside, nearly
wounding the new-made knight.
Henry Ill. of France had so : great a
dislike to cats that he tainted at the
sight of one. We suppose that'in this
case the cat had to waive its proverbial
prerogative aud could not look at a
king. This will seem as absurd as ex-
traordinary to lady lovers-of that much
petted animal, but what are we to say
of the countess of Lamballe, of unhap-
Ply history, to whom a violet was a
thing of horror? Even this is not
without its precedent, for it is on re-
cord that Vincent the painter was
seized with vertigo and swooned at the
smell of roses. Scaliger states that
one of his relations was made i'll at the
sight of a lily, and he himself would
turn pale at the sight of water-cresses
and could never drink milk.
Charles Kingsley, naturalist as he
was to the core, had a great horror OF
spiders; and III '.Glaucus," after saving
tipathic animal, continues: Il know
one (himsel) bred from his childhood
to zoology by land and sea, and bold
in asserting and honest in feeling that
all without exception is beautiful; who
yet cannot, after handling and pettine
and examining, all day long, every
uncouth and venomous beast, avoid a
paroxysm of horror AT the sight of the
common house-spider.
The writer shares in this dislike to
painful extent; in this case it is inner
tied from his grandfather. The genial
author of the Turkish Spy says that
he would far prefer sword in hand to
face lion in his desert lair than have
a spider crawl over him in the dark
The cat, as we have previously men,
toned, has repeatedly been an object
Of aversion. The duke of Schomberg.
not sit in the same room with cat. a
courtier of the Emperor Ferdinand
carried this dislike SO far as to bleed
at the nose on hearing cat new. A
well-known officer of her maiesty's
army, who has proved his strength and
courage in more than one campaign,
turns pale at the sight of a cat. On
one occasion when asked out to dinner,
his host, who was rather skeptical as
to the reality of this feeling, concealed
cat III an ottoman in the dining-room.
Dinner was announced and COM
menced, but his guest was evidently
i'll at ease, and at length declared his
inability to go on eating, as het was
sure there was cat in the room. An
apparently thorough but unavailing
search was made, but his visitor was
SO completely upset that the host, with
many apologies for his experiment.
"let the cat out of the bag and out of
the ottoman at the same time. Lord
Lauderdale, on the other hand, de-
clared that the mewing of cat was to
him sWeeter than and music, while he
had the greatest dislike to the lutte and
the bagpipe. In this latter aversion
he was by no means singular. Dogs,
too, have come in for their share of
dislike. De Musset cordially detested
them. When candidate for the acad-
envy he called upon a prominent mem
Der. At the gate of the chateau dir
ty, ugly dog received him most affec-
tionately and insisted on preceding
him into the DRAWN groom, De Musset
cursing his friends prediction for the
brute. The academician entered and
they adjourned to the dining-room, the
dog at their heels. Selling his oppor-
tunity, the dog placed his muddy paws
upon the spotless cloth and carried of
bonne-bouche. ''The wretch wants
shooting!" was De Musset's muttered
thought, but he politely said:
You are fond of dogs, [ seep"
''Fond of dogsp" retorted the acad.
emician; 81 hate themw
But this animal here?' quered De
Musset. 81 have only tolerated it be-
cause | thought it was yours, sir.
Miner exclaimed the poet; ''the
thought that it was yours alone kept
me from killing him" FAINT
Eq MAGAZINE.